It’s hard to imagine a world without Mary Ellen in it.  Today she went HOME.  I’ve been visiting her every week, loving every minute we spent together.  In the last week she became a little disoriented and tired.  This morning she slipped away, or, as she would say, she “shot on over.”  She did it!  She made it to the end of her earthly life.  I’m so happy for her and so sad for us.  I am already missing her in a deep deep way.

Mary Ellen always made everyone smile.  She was silly and fun.  With me she was serious a and sincere.  We talked about the most important things in our lives and what we were reading and learning.  We talked a lot about our time together in Africa and the people we loved there.  Her long-term memory was sharp until the end.  Her short-term memory wandered off awhile ago.

We have been friends since 1981 when I entered the MTC as a missionary.  After my mission to South Africa, she called to ask if I’d come work for her at the MTC, teaching and training missionaries with Special Assignments.  I was thrilled to take the position.  I worked 30 hours/week at her side, continuing to learn from her.  I lived with her in Springville.  After graduating from BYU, we went to Nigeria together to direct a child health project for The Thrasher Research Fund out of Salt Lake.  After a few months there, she became deathly ill and I helped life-flight her out of there.  She was in the hospital for several weeks.  I returned to Nigeria to complete our work there, staying almost 3 years.

We have been the dearest of friends all these years.  She was my lifeline while I was still in Nigeria.  We wrote volumes to each other about the work there and our lives.  Then she was always a fun email away after I got home.

Our lives got busy after that.  She was on the General Relief Society Board, then a popular LDS Speaker and teacher, traveling all over the place.  She was very involved in Time Out For Women and BYU’s Women’s Conferences.  I was busy raising a family.

In the last year or more, since our return from Germany, I’ve been able to visit her regularly.  She moved to Orem, not far from me.  I loved our weekly visits.  I will really really miss my dear friend.

Here are a few random things I found a few things from Melon this week as I cleaned out my desk.

These are some of the books she wrote:

These are some of the places and ways she served.

On one of my last visits with her:

Peace be with you, dear friend.

This was posted on the BYU Women’s Conference Page this week: